second generation american buttercream

New Year, New buttercream frosting.

When daydreaming about macarons, the easiest part to take on a flavor adventure is the filling.  This year I have fallen in love with French buttercream and all its buttery depth.  And Italian buttercream, with the smoothness it can bring to any spice combination.  But, the sweetness and ease of American Buttercream always make it a shoe-in for flavor testing.  It is so easy it almost feels like cheating, but that ease does come at a price- sometimes ABC can just be so sweet and one note.  It needed tweaking.  And since 2021 is the year for rebirth, change and evolution, it was time to marry classic AMC with ganache.

Here are my tips for getting a perfectly smooth ganache out of whatever chips you have in your pantry.  If they aren’t chocolate based, you will need to break out your food processor and chop those chips to bits- this does take some of the simplicity out of the classic American buttercream formula, but it is so worth it. And hey, you still are not making a boiling sugar syrup, so it still counts as fairly easy! 

Once your chips are perfectly ground, you can add your heated cream and rest assured you are just minutes from creamy, ganchey goodness.  Let it sit and melt for a minute, pat in some butter,  then stir it up and drizzle it into your blended butter.  Add your confectioners sugar and blend like normal.  I call it “second generation” American buttercream, because it’s the melting pot version of frosting. Any chip flavor will work and the result is a bit complex, a bit unexpected and a bit what makes America special and still the best place for dreamers, innovators and idealists in the whole wide world.  Let’s hope the next few years bring us all back to something sweet!